a77 finally sees microscope

My M39 adapter arrived, and I've finally got a quick chance to test the a77 on the microscope.

It's the best results I've had with any camera from a vibration and resolution standpoint. A couple of years ago, I bought a Gf1 specifically for the microscope because it was mirrorless and so did not have a heavy flapping mirror. Well, the shutter action was so strong that there was no way to get a reasonably crisp result without at least iso 800 or a flash to keep the shutter speed very short. I have a very heavy solid microscope too.

The a77 with EFCS turned on, is very gentle, and I get results that are almost as good as looking through the eyepiece even at iso 100 and relatively long shutter speeds. In fact, as I cranked up the iso to shorten the exposure, I basically got high iso noise rather than a crisper image. With the GF1, the image became much crisper than the higher iso blur contribution, so the result really wasn't all that great.

I encountered something weird. I have to put the camera in release without lens mode. No problem there. However, when I trip the shutter with the IR remote, a popup window complains that it doesn't recognize the lens, but it takes the picture anyway. If I use the IR remote in 2-sec delay mode, no such complaint happens! Also, just manually tripping the trigger doesn't cause a complaint. Odd.

Anyway, here is the first shot (onion mitosis). I have a long way to go to get things back up the level of sophistication I had when I last used my microscope a lot about 5 years ago. Once I get there, my results will be far superior to those the camera I had a the time (Nikon Coolpix 4500).



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Steve W
weather photos: http://home.comcast.net/~scwest/atmo/

Cool,Id like to see some video.
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Sony A 900 Sony A700 Sony a55 Carl Zeiss - 24-70 Zeiss 135 Sony 70-300G Sony 16 fisheye Sony 100 macro Sony 11-18
Minolta 50mm 1.7 Questar Telescope

Steve,
Glad to see this is working for you.

Can you give some information on the adapters and lenses needed to connect the camera to the scope and where they can be purchased?

Thanks in advance

tom

Here's the setup with the a77 atop:



The photo adapter is for a very old Nikon film SLR made specifically for microscopy -- so it projects a FF image. I had to turn down one part with a lathe to achieve focus with the a77. The top Nikon threads are M39 Leica. The M39 to A-mount adapter is from ebay. There are probably simpler adapter setups, but I had this old Nikon projection thing and decided to use it.

I don't use the periscope because with the magnification focus mode of the a77, I am able to achieve excellent focus which is repeatable when the camera comes on/off.

I have a big flash setup too, but I have not set that up yet. Once I start doing phase contrast again on pond critters, I'll get everything going.
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Steve W
weather photos: http://home.comcast.net/~scwest/atmo/

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Ralf
http://RalfRalph.smugmug.com/

Great news! Good that the A77 works well for your intended use of this camera. Actually not a big surprise after I tested my cameras on my telescopes.

I am looking forward to more high magnification pictures from you, and also a further report on how your combo does the job!